In hope of reciprocal or quit-pro-quo reviewing I attempted to test, if more community initiative would attract more customers to the storytellers vault and our files for sale.

The download we get was made of 3 parts. The main file, as PDF, and an update note by Mana Verde game design plus a PDF with more notes.

The Chronicles are presented in artful layout, and illustrations are actually fully OK. I could give 5 stars for that part.

Contextually I am personally displeased, as this is a blend of fighting fantasy with the World of Darkness, specifically Vampire the Masquerade.

What I found lacking is embedding the idea into a proper SAS (Storytelling Adventure System) way of game guiding and prose. It is too much about fighting, and it is not proper dramatis personae, when a character has higher fighting skills than profession skills.

Further the lack of invested effort in this part, the part which author and storyteller aka game guide are always the most about, could raise the suspicion of a copycat or plagiarism here.

The story we play is a decent solo adventure, but once again: I do not know any World of Darkness approach keeping it that much generic. For me it reduced the quality and entertainment aspect, but I don't like to make an offer and than give a 1 star review.

Contacting the author was easy, quick responses, and friendly enough for my taste. Still that does not mean I would not want customers to know my true evaluation, even though I kept it more diplomatic than I consider due.

The idea of blending fighting fantasy with WoD, if legally applied and presented in quality, IS splendid, as I am a decade long fan of the Lone Wolf series & Fighting Fantasy game books or www.ffproject.com

I give 3 stars, but know that some hours of effort, and license mentioning, if needed by law, could make this idea into a most impressing 5 star work. Sadly I am not very good at motivating fellow authors at all...

The book is pretty large and so for the price that part checks out just fine. It packs in a giant amount of NPCs for content within the setting as well as fairly respectable research regarding the city's info such as history.

That being said after going over the whole book a large number of issues were also found, some are deal breakers for myself but may not be for others.

The first issue and one of the biggest is the lack of bookmarks, the 190 page book contains 3 bookmarks which are not even functional, 2 of them link to the back of the book on the last page and the first one doesn't even work. At the size of this book, without the bookmarks navigating the book becomes a giant pain and is particularly unpleasant especially with so many NPCs. The next issue is the lack of editting that makes sure everything is legible and easy to read. Maps are especially guilty in this, they're from a much older website from the late 90s/early 2000s and the maps quality show this fact. Personally maps should either take up half the page or the whole page, leaving small bits of text within the map makes it look pretty poor. The maps also lack any form of key besides distance, though its super hard to read.

Hopefully the author will update the book and fix the major issues, the sheer amount of content does keep it rating in the middle for me but its by a slim amount. I do see a lot of potential in the book but it needs some more TLC before I can really back it.

A Golconda Story tells the tale of Patty Herron, a Journalist, who stumbles upon the world of the Kindred. It follows her embrace and exploits as a neonate trying to come to terms with her new condition and the new rules that govern herr existence. Patty's story and character are quite strong, though the pacing sometimes is a bit off and the supporting cast are rarely as well developped as the main character. A full review appears on my website, https://itsmorethanjustgaming.com/2018/03/16/a-golconda-story-a-storytellers-vault-review/

The character sheets are really pleasant to the eye, designed for not 1 but 5 settings (Camarilla, Sabbat, Anarchs, Independent and Black Hand), they are interactive, available in Letter as well as A4 format and in four languages. They offer a cover page and six character pages to not only keep track of attributes of basically everything I can think of.
I do recommend those character sheets wholeheartedly.

I purchased this issue for a single article that presents a medical reasoning for vampirism in Vampire: the MAsquerade, and this one article alone was worth the cover price. The article outlines 'Schere's Disease' a Tremere-developed illness that acts as a way of strengthening the Masquerade. the premise is that this rare genetic disease mimics many of the commonly 'known' manifestations of vampirism, whilst also exhibiting symptoms that can be shown as the roots of myth and legend. The article also provides methos by which kindred may secure documentation to show that they are Schere's sufferers, and makes reference to legislation that will assist the average Cainite in perpetuating this ruse.
The article does show its' age (mostly in the manner in which it points out the difficulties of accessing services after dark - something mitigated to a great extent by online services), but the foundational premise is interesting enough to consider for introduction into your game. Likewise the US has established Rare Disease Centres, and provided financial incentives for research and medicine production allied with rare diseases since this article was published, so this would be well worth investigating.
That said, I'd still recommend this article to Storytellers as it has application in Vampire chronicles, and could be used in other settings (such as Werewolf) as a plot device).

I was expecting much longer. The premise is interesting. Great hook leading...somewhere. The good thing about this mod is that because its so short, it doesn't really hook into the Giovanni so it can really fit in in any chronicle with any NPCs. I will use it as a hook in my game and expand upon it.

Beneath The Mask is not just an exciting supernatural crime drama, it's also a compelling story about the relationship between a vampire and her mortal girlfriend and the horrific realities that entails. The characterization of Kelly Patterson is phenominal and Chris Ironside delivers a finely woven tale that instills many insights into the mind of a kindred and what it truly means to be a vampire. This is truly a tale of personal horror.

English review:
An excellent book for anyone looking for dozens of new options for their chronicles and characters, adding more layers to the already rich Vampire: the Masquerade lore. The book offers a decentralized vision and presents the idea of a new myth of creation, evading monotheistic Roman Catholic domination and bringing greater credibility to the setting while inviting the reader to navigate trough the classic and vast Greek mythology from a heroic point of view, transforming the old and polarized thought into a dialectical Epic about drama, heroism, and blood. If you liked Gargoyles, you'll like this too.

An excellent read that blends an intriguing mystery with an exploration of the nature of the Beast, compelling, with gripping detail and pacing that draws the reader steadily deeper into the heart of kindred doings and kindred crux. The main character is the perfect union of sympathetic and horrifying (the best the World of Darkness has to offer) and I hope to read more of her journey in future tales.

Today I received my Werewolf: the Wild West Poker Deck from DriveThruRPG.com.
The original cards from 1997 were over-sized poker-deck cards designed to promote the (then) upcoming Werewolf: the Wild West tabletop RPG.

I had the original set, but they were ruined by water damage and I had to throw them away years ago.

Fortunately, White Wolf has re-released the cards through DTRPG, so I decided to check them out.

Physically speaking, the cards and box are pretty standard to any other playing cards (though the box is designed with a sort of extra flap of cardboard inside that keeps the deck a bit more secure within it.
As the original cards were the same ratio, there's no strangeness to the images (Though due to the packaging differences, the box has some differences.)
The deck not only includes the usual (52 cards, with two jokers), but also rules on playing a few variations of poker, and the promo card announcing the upcoming W:tWW as well. It's a bit amusing seeing the promotion for "Werewolf: the Wild West, available in June 1997.."
Also, the box artwork is recreated (as best as they can) with the original artwork, meaning that the back contains the original UPC, ISBN, Stock #, and even the White Wolf Game Studio logo with the 7735 Park North Blvd address. XD

My only real issue is that the artwork seems a bit muddy/faded/blurry. This could be from the scanning/transfer process, or this is just how the original files looked and represent how they looked originally too.

I'd love to see an "updated" version of the deck with some contemporary artwork done up, as well as not having the "Werewolf: the Wild West Poker Deck" on the backs... heck, even just removing "Poker Deck" would be nice... but as this is a recreation of the original product, it's likely more for those seeking to reclaim something they once had, rather than a product for folks new to the scene.

Over-all, it's decent and I hope that at some point they can find a way of printing cards on tarrot-card dimensions so that we can get a re-issue of the Mage: The Ascension Tarrot deck made too.

I very rarely give 5 stars. It was warranted this time. I don't play Sabbat as I find the sect to be a bit irritating, however I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure setting and plot. It has threat, pursuit and action as you might expect. And it has some great antagonists. To read my full review, you can check it out on my site HERE